falloutfanonfandomcom-20200222-history
Los Fresnos
Throughout Tamaulipas and South Texas the fight between Brahmin ranchers and Cattle ranchers has been a long and tedious one. But everyone in both Texas and Mexico seems to have forgotten the wasteland's other ranch animal; The Bighorner. Starting off as a small farming community and progressing to becoming the biggest Bighorner town in the whole region. History Pre-War Los Fresnos in the pre-war days was a medium sized town situated close to the Mexican border, and thus was an ideal spot for drug runners to make their hideouts and safe houses, thus for many years, there was a constant battle between the local police and the powerful cartels who ruled the town's underworld. Outside of its drug-related problems the town was never truly a bustling place, with the only permanent residents being the mill workers that commuted to and from work every morning and evening, with everyone else in the town either being truckers moving towards the border or the occasional biker gang looking for a place to get a cheap drink. When the United States invaded Mexico in 2051, Los Fresnos became the site of a US Army supply depot and was a frequent stop for soldiers heading back North on leave and in 2067 the town, along with many others in the area, got on the grid of Brownsville's new nuclear reactor. Yet in the days leading up to the start of the Great War things in town almost went to hell as anti-war protestors occupied the town green and blocked the entrance to the community fallout shelter. The town police commissioner, not wanting the town to slip into chaos as had many cities in Texas ordered the police to try and solve things diplomatically. What ended up happening was a general breakdown in discipline among the officers as they were taunted, berated and generally disrespected by the irate protestors that ended with the officers, joined by soldiers from the nearby depot storming the town green and plunging the town into chaos just hours before the Great War began. Great War The Great War came to the town in a form of a small-sized nuclear warhead, targeted at the US Army depot in the town, the blast ripped the town apart. In the park protestors, police and soldiers were fighting it out when the nuke-blasted them and almost everyone else in the town into oblivion. However, a lucky few of the townsfolk and protestors were able to muscle their way to the fallout shelter when the sirens started to go off and seal themselves in just as the Chinese bomber formation overflew the town. A total of 18 people survived the nuke out of the 1,500 people that lived in Los Fresnos, now inside the shelter, they had plenty of supplies to live off of and plenty of space to expand, which in the post-war days with many of the people thinking they would soon die they did rather vigorously. Plantation Era By the time the era that became known as the Plantation Era the ruins of Los Fresnos had transformed as the survivors of the nuclear blast emerged from their bunker and resettled the ruins a full 55 years after the bombs fell. With the food supplies basically used up, the townsfolk went about forming the ruins of the Los Fresnos into something livable and soon with the help of a few caravans out of Fort Brown they were able to get their town back on the map. But as the town expanded the question was raised as to what would attract people to the town and what would make them stay, the answer was for a time; Gecko skins but as the town developed a newer, much more profitable industry arose from the town. Farming when it was discovered that the amount of fallout in the area was low enough for them to grow crops quickly became the town's staple with many of the families that once relied upon hunting Geckos for food and income, now switched over to growing patches of corn, beans, tomatoes and so on. By the time 2155 arrived, the town was a hub of agriculture in South Texas, and the crops grown had advanced from simple corn and beans to "cash" crops like Coyote Tobacco, Peppers, Cotton, and Peanuts were now grown rather prevalently alongside their more utilitarian brethren. With the increase in the growing of these cash crops there soon arose a number of powerful farmers in the town, these planters were the captains of industry within Los Fresnos and were competing with one another for control of the town's crop yields. However with the small population of the town the planters had to look to other means for workers, this came in the form of slave labor. Not only was the town an agriculture center but it was also one of the largest buyers of slaves in all of South Texas, and no one within the town truly minded the use of slave labor. Those field hands who had at one point been themselves been working out in the sun now held positions of power as slave drivers, supervisors, foremen and so on with better pay and less labor intensive work. In 2150 there were five powerful planters in Los Fresnos, Ronald R. Bundy, Milo Jackson, Alesander Montano, Marius Bekker and Danilo Simone. When 2160 came around, there were only two; Marius Bekker and Ronald R. Bundy and both for control of Los Fresnos' economy. Ronald R. Bundy Ronald R. Bundy was born to Ted and Anna Bundy in 2120 on a small ranch in Falfurrias, Texas. However, due to the overall lack of work in Falfurrias and the piss poor pay of that work which did exist the Bundy's opted to leave Falfurrias and head for greener pastures. This came in the form of Los Fresnos and having set themselves up in a somewhat livable shack the Bundys began to sow crops and quickly joined in on the agricultural scene in Los Fresnos. It was rough going for a time, with droughts ruining crop yields and rival farmers harassing their homestead but the Bundys managed to survive. Eventually, the Bundys would become known as the "Cotton Kings of Los Fresnos" as their main staple crop was cotton. By the time it came time for Ted to retire and Ronald to take the helm the Bundys were in control of a massive piece of land, with dozens of slaves tilling to fields, working the gins and a half dozen drivers overseeing it all. It was during this time that Ronald came in contact with an old ghoul, claiming to be a mechanic. Having a few old tractors stored in a barn, he had the old ghoul take a look at them and see if they couldn't be brought back to working condition. Stripping down the more dilapidated tractors for parts, Pablo (the ghoul's name) was able to get a total of three tractors back up running, taking aside several of his more reliable workers, he had them instructed in the use and operation of the vehicles by Pablo and then had them implemented into his plantation's operation, hiring Pablo to help keep the tractors working. Yet in 2155 Ronald had managed to drive several of his competitors out of business, buying up their farms. But he had yet to overtake his main competitor in town, Marius Bekker. Trying everything from offering massive sums of caps for Bekker's ranch to trying to drive him out of business, nothing seemed to work and thus, Ronald sent his hired band of mercs after Marius and his farm and promptly got his men killed in a battle that would become known as the Los Fresnos Massacre. It turned out that Marius had been preparing for conflict with Ronald and thus had been buying up weapons from almost every arms merchant that came through town, to add Marius had garnered the support of the Falcone Syndicate. This powerful Texan crime family had been using one of Marius' old barns to store arms and chems they were going to smuggle to some of the militias in Distrito Capital without having to pay the gauge level duties that the border mercenary companies tended to charge. With this support Marius was prepared to run Ronald out of Los Fresnos, meanwhile, Ronald quickly sent out several men to track down and hire every two-bit thug, merc and hired gun in the area in order to protect his investment. Marius Bekker Marius Bekker's past is a complicated one and one that can be traced all the way back to the far distant land of South Africa. Marius' ancestors were Afrikaners, born and raised in South Africa and had emigrated to the US prior to the fall of the bombs. Marius was the latest continuation of the Bekker family line and like his ancestors, he took up the profession of being a planter. Marius and his parents Karl and Anna had moved to Los Fresnos from the Texas City area where Karl's Anglican faith made him an enemy of the Reformed Methodist Church headquartered within the city. Starting life in Los Fresnos was hard, the land they had bought for a dirt cheap price was poor for farming anything beyond maize and even then what was grown usually came out small and underdeveloped. However, Karl refused to be beaten by this and during the night in late May he killed the man living closest to him and his family, burying his body in their plot. After buying up the dead man's land he began to experiment with different crops in the plot using seeds he purchased from Grange store in town, finding that Peanuts grew best in his new lot. With this in mind, he began to grow peanuts in excess, finding a nice niche in the local market. Using his accumulated caps from his sales to buy out other farms around his own and expanding the number of crops he grew, adding coyote tobacco and jalapeno peppers to those crops he grew. When Marius took over the family business when he was 19 it was under tragic circumstances, his father had been killed. Whoever the killers were was never discovered but it was likely that it was members of the Reformed Methodist Church who had taken the nearby settlement of Fort Donner. Yet Marius proved to be just as good of a farmer/businessmen as his father had been and by 2155 he was the second most powerful planter in Los Fresnos. Yet he had his eyes set on the top and the only man in his way was Ronald R. Bundy. Thus, Marius began to prepare himself to take on Ronald and his operation, using his considerable wealth to stockpile weapons in the basement of his home and hiring hired guns. When Ronald started pushing for his farm Marius prepared himself, always on his toes waiting for Ronald to make his move. When it did come, it came in the form of a group of mercenaries and thugs that Ronald had sent over to run Marius off his farm, Marius called up his men and in the resulting battle, Ronald's men were thoroughly beaten by Marius' men and their superior arms. Using the advantage he had he sent a group of men to attack and kill Ronald and to burn his farm down. Ronald who had been hiring nearly every merc in the area fought back, knocking Marius' men back. What followed was a series of skirmishes between Marius' men and those of Ronald ending with the town Sheriff getting involved and mediating a peaceful settlement. With the end of the Bekker-Bundy Feud came the end of what was known as the Plantation Era and the start of the era of the Brahmin Barons. The Brahmin Barons The era of the Brahmin Barons started right around the year 2170 with the arrival of Andy of Greenville arriving in Los Fresnos with a herd of Brahmin at his side. Andy settled in one of the old farms outside of the town and quickly began to dominate the local ranching market, quickly buying up the smaller ranches that existed in Los Fresnos. It was after Andy's rise to fame that the town's cattle market really took off as small-time farmers and ranchers realized the monetary value in the mud red, beeves they kept for food or as pack animals. The town quickly began to switch over from a farming town to become a powerful cattle station with former magnates like Marius Bekker and Ronald R. Bundy falling out of favor as new faces like Tommy Falcone, Chad Myers, and many other new Cattle barons rose to power. The era of the Cattle Barons would last for many years to come, until the arrival of Jose Suarez in 2200. Jose at the helm of a gang of cattle rustlers, horse thieves, Comancheros, and Communists known as the People's Revolutionary Militia took over. Jose Suarez Jose and his gang; Milicia Popular Revolucionaria were the first serious exterior threat the town had faced, in the past they had faced down gangs of raiders and other Comancheros even a few stray Deathclaws but nothing like Jose's gang. The Militia was heavily armed, usually with weapons they had stolen from raids on either Los Alamos caravans or from La Ciudadela's royal caravans giving them a fearsome armory of weapons ranging from Hunting Rifles to FN FALs and Assualt Carbines. Thus, when Jose and his heavily armed gang rode into town they were met by frightened stares and hands slowly drifting down to holsters, yet they meant the town no harm. They simply dismounted their horses outside a saloon and went in to wet their dry mouths. After quenching their thirst they rented rooms above the bar and promptly spent the rest of the day drinking, doing Jet and fornicating with the town whores. When daybreak came the next day the gang was gone and the town seemed to breathe a sigh of relief when the news spread, only to have the gang return several hours later, fresh from a raid on a nearby border town of Greer's Landing. The startled townsfolk watched in shock as the bandits rode into town with dead men draped over their saddles, and a cart full of loot, stolen from the ferry crossing in the town. This process continued for several weeks with the bandits leaving early every morning to raid and pillage along the nearby roads, and returning to drink and fornicate each evening until finally the town had enough. The Sheriff, backed up by several deputies, the saloon owner, a couple of cowhands and a few mercs sent by the local Brahmin barons entered the saloon when the bandits returned and demanded that the gang leave town. Jose and his men laughed at the demand and continued to drink when the townsfolk got their guns, the bandits took notice slowly moving their hands towards their weapons. Suddenly, Jose jumped up from his seat, Laser Rifle in hand and shot the Sheriff dead. In the following chaos, all the townsfolk and six bandits were killed in the melee. When Jose and his surviving men entered the street from the now burning saloon, they were as angry as hornets. They tore through the streets, killing, maiming and wounding anyone they caught out in the open, setting the town bank and sheriff's office on fire and when their rampage was over they declared themselves the "Kings" of Los Fresnos. They immediately rounded up the townsfolk and had some clean up the mess they had made and then nominating two of his men to become the new sheriff and deputy. For the next three years the town would devolve into nothing more than a haven for bandits, thugs, and other lowlifes with the townsfolk trying to survive under their new leaders while dodging bullets from rival gangs, posses, lynch mobs and even the famed Los Caballeros themselves as each came looking for Jose or members of his gang. In the end, it would take the efforts of one man and his brother to free the town of Jose Suarez, Henry O'Neil and his brother Joseph. Constable Henry O'Neil Henry O'Neil and his brother Joseph were what they liked to be known as, traveling lawmen. Meaning they viewed themselves as lawmen but Henry's penchant for draconian measures to punish crooks and to prevent crime, not to mention that he usually installed his mentally handicapped brother as deputy tended to make him unpopular in towns along the Texas-Mexico border. However when he rolled into Los Fresnos he could clearly see that the town was suffering and was in dire need of his help, thus, he and his brother decided to liberate Los Fresnos from their oppressors. The start of their efforts began with them riding into town, tall on their horses and seeing the polished stars on both of their chests the townsfolk instinctively ducked into their homes, bars, stores, etc. and sure enough as they rode down the main thoroughfare a flurry of shots rang out and Joseph fell from his saddle, blood flowing from several gunshot wounds that pockmarked his chest. Henry's horse had been hit several times by rounds no doubt meant for him. Pulling his leg out from underneath the horse as bullets smacked the sand around him he rushed to the nearest store door only to find it locked. When he pounded on the door, the clerk manning the front desk simply stared down at the counter. He turned and quickly ducked into an alleyway, pulling his revolver from his holster. Running around the building, he peered around the corner, seeing several bandits inspecting his fallen brother's corpse. Popping around the corner he fired three shots at the bandits, sending two to the ground screaming in pain. Bullets smacked the wall he hid behind as the bandits zeroed in on him. Going back around the other corner of the store he was met by three bandits coming down the alleyway, again he loosed a flurry of shots, sending three to the ground yelling in pain. Now surrounded with no good way out, he decided if he was going to go down, he was going down fighting. Loading more shells into his revolver, he stood and placing one hand on the hammer turned towards the bandits and fired off as fast as he could pull back the hammer. Much to his own surprise he wasn't cut down in a hail of bullets, he looked around to see several of the bandits lying dead or tossing in pain from gunshots wounds. Running from the cover of the alley he sprinted off into the town. For the remainder of the week, he played a cat and mouse game with the bandits, receiving help from less beaten down townsfolk. By the end of the week, the town was in a full rebellion, following Henry's example they turned their guns on the Jose and his gang of bandits, cornering him and his gang in the town hotel where led by Henry, they kicked down the door and gunned down Jose and his remaining men. Thus ended the era of Jose Suarez and thus began the era of Henry O'Neil. As the first act in his administration, Henry had the store clerk that hadn't opened the door for him, hung. No one objected, the man had been supplying chems to Jose and his men since they had rolled into town. He then headed up a project to rebuild those buildings destroyed in Jose's revolt. However, one thing that couldn't be rebuilt was the town's Brahmin industry, those successful barons who lived in Los Fresnos had quickly made themselves scarce when Jose and his men took over. Those who were left either had their herds decimated by Jose's extortion or from malnutrition as caravans carrying feed stopped coming into Los Fresnos. The town seemed doomed to slip into poverty with its main revenue source gone, however things turned up when a young rancher showed up in town about a week later. His name was Cody Gomez and he and his young wife were from the area in Tamaulipas known as The Highlands where they had ranched Bighorners. They had been fleeing attacks from a mysterious group of assailants calling themselves, Los Jinetes Fantasmas. They had left their small ranch with their sole cowhand Gaucho Gomez, a Super Mutant that had taken on the last name of his employers. The arrival of Cody and his herd of Bighorners turned out to be a saving grace for the town, as Bighorners became the town's new staple, attracting buyers from as far away as San An and as far west as the Corpse Coast looking for a cheaper, meatier alternative to Falfurrias' Brahmin, and they weren't disappointed. However, the arrival of the Bighorners in Los Fresnos turned out to be a blessing and a curse for the town as they attracted the ire of the Falfurrias' ranchers. The end result was the town's Bighorner drives being harassed by hired mercenaries from Falfurrias, but with the help of the town's new Constable they were able to keep enough cattle routes open to make money for the town. Present Presently Los Fresnos has grown in size and has become a major contender in the Southern Texas cattle market, with their cheaper Bighorners being a big hit among the gangs of the Corpse Coast and the militias and various factions in Distrito Capital. The town has commemorated the actions of Henry O'Neil and his retarded brother with a statue of the two riding into town, placed at the center of town, much to chagrin on Jose's numerous illegitimate sons. Government The government of Los Fresnos is handled by the elected Sheriff/Constable. Every three years the people of the town hold elections to decide who should be the next person to protect and lead their town, whoever elected gets to hold the position of town sheriff for three years during which he can nominate his own deputies, make arrests, try any offender who has committed a crime too light to be immediately killed and to severe to be excused and finally to raise a militia when the town is threatened by a force that the sheriff and his deputies can't deal with on their own. However, the actual political history of Los Fresnos has been a bit more turbulent than what would've been expected, with various cattle barons installing their sons, brothers, friends into the town's seat of power in order to manipulate the system to their advantage, either having rival cattlemen chased off or have a legally sanctioned take over of other ranches. Thus, when actual sheriffs are elected they usually take measures to limit the power of cattle barons, planters, and Bighorner barons. Thus, the actual laws of the town include several of what could be called anti-trust laws added with the usual host of laws banning murder, rape, stealing, etc. Economy Despite the various changes in commodities the town trades, the town's economy has stayed firmly rooted in agriculture, with the main commodities being cash crops and when commercial farming fell out in the town, Brahmin and Bighorners with the latter being the town's current export of choice. However beyond cattle the town has had a number of smaller goods it trades, feed, for example, is one such good. Almost everyone in the town has a garden of some size and what corn they don't consume themselves they grind up and turn into animal feed, selling it to the cattle barons of the town or exporting it out to places like Falfurrias or the Cattle Country. It is rather ironic to some of the townsfolk and angering to the Bighorner ranchers that the town's biggest rival is supplied with the feed from the town's small time farmers. Outside of feed, the townsfolk tend to sell gecko hides and leather they make from the hides, corn whiskey and of course Brahmin dung. Brahmin dung is a popular commodity to those out there looking to keep themselves well stocked with ammunition, as certain chemicals extracted from the dung after its been distilled can be used to make ammunition and many arms dealers and desperadoes will pay a pretty penny for a couple jars of brahmin shit chemicals to make ammunition. Besides cattle and other agrarian products, Brahmin dung is the best selling commodity in Los Fresnos. Culture The town of Los Fresnos is an average ranch town with most folk wandering around in blue jeans, and cowboy boots or in typical vaquero garb. They eat either canned foods or Brahmin steak and don't care too much for anyone from Falfurrias or from down south from the Cattle Country. Category:Texas Category:Places Category:Communities